Page 19 - 2020 Conference Booklet

1 4. Issued Statement of Solidarity with Tree of Life and Statement on
2 Separation of Families at the Border.
3 5. Advocating for Red Flag laws that aim to reduce access to guns by
4 domestic abusers.
5 6. Board of Directors adopted a Resolution on Gun Violence.
6 7. Advocating fairer state funding for education sites.
7 8. Addressing concerns related to solitary confinement and how it affects
8 incarcerated persons.
9 9. Healing Communities training equips congregations to be welcoming to
10 formerly incarcerated persons and minister to their families and their
11 victims.
12 10. Other activities include work among migrant workers and refugees,
13 working for fairer congressional and legislative representation based on
14 accurate population census counts, care for highway travelers/drivers, and
15 State Park ministry sites staffed and trained.
16 11. Question raised about whether PACOC has discussed how churches might
17 address growing drug abuse problem. Sandy Strauss will take it to the
18 board for discussion.
19 B. Report accepted.
20 XXIII. BRETHREN VOLUNTEER SERVICE REPORT (pp. 47-48)
21 A. Presented by Emily Tyler, Director of BVS.
22 1. Emily is from McPherson, KS, the daughter of McPherson College
23 teachers and herself a professional educator and former BVS worker. She
24 has worked on BVS staff seven years recruiting volunteers.
25 2. BVS began over 70 years ago, driven by a group of young adults in 1948,
26 set the pattern for other volunteer agencies that followed (such as the
27 Peace Corps). Volunteer opportunities exist for anyone 18 and older for
28 one or more years required. Placements include food banks, homeless
29 shelters, farms, Capitol Hill, and more opportunities, both foreign and
30 domestic.
31 3. Since Emily stepped into the director position, BVS has moved their office
32 to the front of the Elgin offices, hired a new volunteer coordinator,
33 implemented a Fast Track orientation attempting to shorten orientation
34 length; it was determined that the new idea would not be sustainable.
35 4. Work Camps and BVS have been treated as two separate entities; Emily is
36 working at creating a more interconnected framework, treating Work
37 Camps as “short-term” BVS opportunities.
38 5. Recruitment initiatives increasing. Rebranding BVS to overcome the
39 stigma that service is for people who do not know what else to do at the
40 moment; instead, treat it as a way to prepare for the next step, increasing
41 personal effectiveness over a lifetime. Working to increase awareness
42 among churches to know that BVS and Work Camps exist, and to increase
43 opportunities for people to participate in these programs.
44 B. Report accepted.
45 XXIV. 2020 BUDGET AND DISTRICT FINANCIAL MINISTRY ALLOCATION
46 A. 2020 Budget accepted.
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